Secure Your Ride

Hey, everyone! I’m noticing that bike thefts are on the rise this year so I thought I’d make a blog entry that goes a bit more in depth on how to keep your bike secure. I’ve never had my motorcycle stolen before but part of me is always ready for it. When I was much younger I rode a bicycle to school every day and one Christmas I got a really, really cool new one. It was awesome, was a proper mountain bike with gears and suspension and everything. But not long after I’d gotten it and rode it to school for the first time, it had been stolen from the locked shed and it had a lock on the wheel too. I’ll never forget walking up to the shed that morning, seeing the lock broken off the door and opening it up to see my bike was nowhere in sight.

It was a valuable lesson though and now that I’m all grown all up and have a ride that’s more than ten times the value- I’m extra careful. It’s easy to become complacent and it’s that complacency that thieves are waiting for. So here’s a number of ways to keep your bike secure without anything as invasive as installing internal alarms or trackers [Which I highly advise if you can afford it anyway.]

1- Where are You Keeping It?
It’s pretty obvious that you should keep your bike stored somewhere secure to begin with. A locked garage with strong walls and doors is ideal but not everyone has a garage. However, if you have a garden that you can get your bike in to and enough space, treat your bike to a well made shed. If you can spare the cash and time- go for a really tough one built from the ground up with a solid foundation and brick walls with a heavy duty door and lock. Shed kits and Yardmasters from Homebase are okay if you can’t get anything else but they’re quite easy to break into. I’ve had a few where people have literally just removed the roof to get in or bent the metal. But at least they provided an extra obstacle to thieves to get through.

2- Under CoverIt may seem silly if you already have a shed or garage to store your bike in but if it has windows- a bike cover may be a good idea. Most thieves will work in the dark hours of the night and might even look through the windows to see what you’ve got that’s worth taking. But a good cover and a shadowy corner might just work in your favour and make thieves believe there’s either nothing in there or think twice about the risk before breaking in. We have a number of Motorcycle Covers that you can choose from at Ghostbikes.com that can help with this. Plus it helps to keep the dust from settling on your pride and joy.3- Lock It DownYou should really get a good lock and chain for your bike- the bigger and meaner you’re willing to go the better. Most thieves will be deterred by a lock and chain that look as though it’s going to make moving your bike more trouble than it’s worth. It has to be thicker chain with a big lock as well, otherwise a pair of bolt cutters is all it will take to cut it off. We’ve got plenty in our range of Oxford Locks for you to choose from, all heavy duty and designed to resist being cut or otherwise messed with.

4- Lock It Down HarderIf you’re going to put a chain and lock on your bike, its a good idea to go that one step further if you can. If a thief really wants your bike- they’re going to have help and two strong guys can easily haul a big bike into a van and speed off in seconds- believe me, I’ve seen it, there’s Youtube videos all over the place of it happening. So you should lock your bike to something more than just it’s self. A Ground Anchor is a perfect addition to any shed and gives you that little bit more piece of mind- if anyone else has their eye on your bike, you’re going to make them work for it. Lock the bike down and they can’t simply carry it off, they have no choice but to deal with the lock and chain.5- Make Some NoiseIf your garage has been broken in to and the thieves are working on getting through your chain- give your bike the means to call for help. You don’t need to go ripping your bike to bits to wire in a whole alarm system to still have an alarm on your bike. You can put an alarm on your bike for just £34.99 with the Oxford Screamer Alarmed Disc Lock. If your bike is tampered with and otherwise jostled while the disc lock is armed, a 100db alarm will sound to alert you that someone is touching your bike who shouldn’t be. Plus it’s one more lock that the thieves have to get though before being able to wheel your bike away. It also means you’ve got yourself a nice loud lock that you can use on your bike while it’s not at home if you commute to work or you’re popping into a service station for a coffee.

And those are just a few of the things you can do to make your bike a bit more secure. At least without wiring in trackers and alarms to your bike. A good tracker is recommended though- a decent tracker in a nicely disguised spot in your bike could mean the difference between a happy reunion or never seeing your bike again should anyone who wants to take your bike be professional and prepared enough to take it.

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